New Designer at Herm猫s
Apr 1
Hot news from Paris: After seven years, Jean Paul Gaultier is giving up his ready-to-wear duties at Hermès and will be replaced by Christophe Lemaire, who has been designing for Lacoste since 2000. Mr. Gaultier’s move was expected, but the replacement was something of a surprise, since Mr. Lemaire has always flown a bit under the radar and doesn’t show his own collection on the runway.
Nevertheless Hermès has a tradition of making unexpected hires in the creative department, starting with Martin Margiela, who designed the collection prior to Mr. Gaultier. Mr. Lemaire had worked for numerous French design houses, including Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Patou and Christian Lacroix, before joining Lacoste. He has been credited with reviving the demand for its crocodile-logo polo shirts by restyling the line with pop colors and trimmer fits, but it’s hard not to picture the new job at Hermès as a big step up.
Mr. Gaultier will show one more spring collection for Hermès in October, the company said, noting that it retains a 45 percent stake in the designer’s own label and will continue to support his business. Mr. Lemaire’s first show will be for fall 2011, to be shown next March.
Gemma Ward and another model outside the Chloe show.(Jean-Luce Hure for The New York Times)Leaving the Hermès show the other day, wondering whether it was better to own a floor-length crocodile coat or a small apartment, I saw that I was next to Anna Wintour and her bodyguards. The doors of the Théâtre du Châtelet swung open to brilliant sunshine — the daffodils are blooming here — and waiting on the sidewalk was the ever-present throng of Japanese street photographers. Though by no means as large as what one encounters outside the fashion tent in the Tuileries.
Ms. Wintour, as some of you may know, moves swiftly but she is pleasant, and she stopped when several of the photographers and a woman with a notepad rushed ahead to get her picture and a comment.
I asked the woman what she had asked Ms. Wintour.
She looked deeply puzzled. “What you wear,” she replied.
And what did Ms. Wintour say?
“Marni fur piece and Chanel.” With that, the woman rushed back to the theater door to get another picture and credit.
Autre, do you remember when you said, “It’s just fashion. Is it? Is it really?” I would say, or add: “It’s not important but what is?” Without judging the woman’s interest or choice of work, her question, like the reply, seems empty. But there is eternal value in the moment. Right now, in Japan and other places, in magazines and on Web sites, a record of these editors and fashion people in their Pradas and Chanels is gathering. In 30 or 40 years time, these images will mean something entirely different to an artist, just as the news photo of Lee Harvey Oswald being shot in Dallas meant something to Cady Noland.
